1. Art refines consciousness!
My artistic process is about the exploration of consciousness... the posing of questions that defy easy closure...
Sometimes this investigation plays out in dramatic structure, like in the award-winning text of Undaunted (2020) where the movement of the action through time, mimics the movement of a ship.
Or in Crab (2006), where the plotting shifts sideways... questioning the nature of memory in relationships through moments of love and loss.
Sometimes it is in the content, where the givens of a particular worldview are defamiliarised or made strange, to re-evaluate social reality.
In the short story Monolith (2018) the tragic destruction of the Vijayanagara Empire is seen through a satirical lens.
This relationship between inner and outer worlds has been richly rewarding...
Be it through dramatic exploration of the Indian philosophical concept of anupalabdhi in the award winning Ultimate Kurukshetra (2018)...
Or in the charged body-politics of Dancing on Glass (2004) and Creeper (2007) which capture how the macro-processes of globalisation impact the lives and bodies of ordinary workers and residents of Bangalore, India...
Art emerges from this agitation... "like the grain of sand in the oyster's gut" ...
2. The grand imaginative leap is often nested within the tiniest of details.
My work is driven by practice-led research.
My academic grounding is in ethnography and fieldwork. I've also worked with primary sources and archival material in Vanguard (2018) a play based on the use of Indian war rockets at the Battle of Pollilur fought in 1780.
Artistic research is not derivative, it sometimes triggers discovery of new knowledge, for instance the Vanguard research initiated in 2012 led to the archaeological discovery of a cache of rockets in Shimoga, Karnataka.
Detail can also takes the form of micro-narrative - everyday truths, partial, fragmentary, and fleeting. The micro-narrative can critique, embellish and even reveal surprising contradictions and counterfactuals, all of which allow us to re-engage the master narrative with fresh eyes.
My interest in South Asian labour aboard steamships (lascars) as agents of early globalisation in Undaunted, led me to the study of modern commercial seafaring, containerisation and human rights, the basis for a new line of artistic and inter-disciplinary research outputs.
My artistic work co-creates discourse, on par with other forms of knowledge-making.
3. Try, fail, learn. Repeat.
I picked up my artistic chops over the years, through a process of productive failure - and I'm still constantly learning!
My early work with the Royal Court Theatre (2001-2007) opened me to a range of amazing writers and dramaturgical possibilities. I had transformative workshop experiences with Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Martin Crimp, debbie tucker green, David Hare, April de Angelis and Simon Stephens, among others.
Teaching the craft of dramatic writing is another way of learning. I've taught traditional and avant-garde techniques to aspiring young writers, amateurs and professionals.
4. Animal energies...
I'm also particularly interested in animal energies. Sometimes this runs as a thematic motif through a play, or as a way of exploring a character's rhythms and drives.
Or it can also be in the exploration of totemic relationships and symbolism that probes the sub-conscious associations we have with different animal spirits.
5. My work suggests the medium.
I've developed work in film, radio, photography and geomedia, as well as inter-disciplinary projects that mix performance genres .
Well done! Thank you for scrolling through to the end! You can reach me on my mobile at +91 9886358596 or drop a line to ramganeshk@gmail.com for more details!
Credits:
Created with a sprinkle of fairy dust and many years of diligence